


Wild World

by Osservare



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Cat!Gavin, Chinchilla!Jeremy - Freeform, Padalickingood AU, RT Hybrid Switch AU, Rabbit!Jack, Squirrel!Kdin, bull!ray, goat!michael, husky!lindsay, lion!geoff, rt hybrid AU, vulture!Ryan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-10-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 09:19:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4473815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Osservare/pseuds/Osservare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As if the awakening of hybrids across the world wasn’t enough to handle, the crew is thrown a curve ball. Once you get used to cat ears, ram horns feel a little top-heavy. And a rabbit having to learn to be a bull takes some time. Not to mention the kind lion transformed into a gentle bunny. And then there’s the bull learning to fly from a bird turned feline. But an old ram is happy to exchange his horns for a lion’s mane. Confusing? It is for them too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Switch

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of padalickingood’s RoosterTeeth Hybrid AU/Hybrid Switch AU. Beta’d by my lovely goneallgammy/lostinthehaywoods.

“YIKES!”

A flurry of feathers followed the exclamation, earning several quiet groans from the other occupants of the Achievement Hunter office. In a vicious VS between Ryan and Michael, the crew found themselves halfway through a particularly wacky day.

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"Jack, help!"

The bearded Gent looked shocked, taking a moment to process the figure in front of him. "Uh, good morning to you, too, Ryan." 

The look on Ryan's face was almost comical. His eyes locked on to the top of his friend's head, mouth dropped humorously low. "Not you, too."

Sitting high on Jack's head was a pair of fluffy rabbit ears. One lay lopped awkwardly down the side of his face while the other stood straight and shifting minutely at every sound in the building. Jack's hand went to move the one ear obscuring his view, but it dodged out of his grasp, causing the man to just go to the base where the ear was attached and scratch profusely with one finger. His befuddled expression did not stem from his own situation though, but Ryan's. The blue-eyed man had lost his impressive rack of longhorns; instead, two large brown wings stretched from his shoulder blades. They looked uncomfortably folded, as if trying to hide, but were unmistakably there. (Jack briefly wondered where Ryan managed to find a shirt suited for his new appendages, but chocked it up to Ryan’s veterinarian wife.) In one word, they were huge, the biggest wings Jack has ever seen on any bird hybrid. Several feathers stuck out at painful angles from improper grooming and the longest primary feathers dragged along the floor. 

After a moment of assessing each other, both Gents composed themselves and sat at their respective desks. "Okay, at least I'm not the only one. No one else at the office seems to have this problem. Everyone is still their normal hybrid. What is going on with us then?" Ryan commented aloud, finally having a new set of ears to listen to his rampant thoughts. Jack made to answer when the door slid open once more.

Geoff's voice could be heard from the outside, obviously talking with another co-worker before barking a quick laugh and entering the office fully. The oldest Gent stopped at the doorway, hand froze on the door handle. Unlike the other two, his expression was more contemplative and almost a little sly. Swinging the door shut, the mustached man sauntered in. Ryan exchanged a quick glance with Jack.

"I knew I was more suited to this hybrid than an old goat," Geoff declared proudly. 

Indeed, Geoff's hybrid had also changed. Instead of the curved bone of his ram horns, two rounded ears flicked happily on top his head. The tattooed man had also grown an impressive beard in the span of one night, spotted with longer whiskers sticking out from below the scruff. Ryan noted the lanky tail trailing behind Geoff, swinging lazily in the air in some sort of amusement. The man had an almost predatory look as Jack glared weakly up at his co-worker. 

"Don't you dare do it, Geoff," Jack croaked out. His whole body tensed as Geoff inhaled a big gasp of air. Puffing out his cheeks in show and eyeing the rabbit-hybrid deviously, Geoff released a mighty roar. Jack cringed at the terrible sound while Ryan’s wings flapped wildly despite knowing what was coming, shedding multiple brown feathers into the air.

Just as Geoff was about to comment on Ryan's new appearance, the office door opened once again.

"Fuck. Who's making all this ruckus this early?" Michael came storming in, an unhappy air about the whole Lad with Ray shuffling in from behind. 

“That would be Geoff,” Jack replies, heavily put upon and still recovering from the auditory battering.

Ray offered a sympathetic look for Jack before housing himself at his desk and booting up the systems. Michael, however, planted himself in the middle of the room, a chagrined smile plastered on his face. “Well look at us.”

Indeed, now the addition of Ray and Michael solidified the fact that no one in their crew retained their original hybrid. Michael seems to have switched with Geoff, swapping cat ears for ram horns. The horns were much smaller than the older man’s original rack but still visible above the mop of curls. His goat ears were set low on his head, twisted forward to compensate for the lesser hearing ability. With matching changes, Ray sported a pair of bull horns where his rabbit ears usually were and a pair of cow ears set around the middle of his face. 

Seeing his hybrid upon another person set an uncontrollable grin upon Ryan’s face of which Ray spotted immediately. With a visible huff and a weak glare, Ray broke the silence, “I swear, Ryan. If you call me Edgar…”

Ryan only grinned wider, hands up in surrender. Geoff howled in laughter, his joyous puffs particularly strong. Michael’s hyena-like laugh stretched long to accompany Geoff’s cackling, the severity of the situation waning in favor of the pure ridiculous of the day.

“Holy fuck,” Geoff gasped, finally settling down. “As much as I’d love to sit and gape at you freaks, we’ve still got work to do today.”

“Is that really such a good idea, Geoff?” Jack voices everyone’s concern as a new wave of seriousness settles.

Ryan nodded readily in agreement. Upon reflection of when the hybrid-mutation first appeared, there was great debate about whether to hide it and continue about the daily business or halt all production in favor of safety of the inflicted employees. Luckily, this hybrid swap avoided the initial illness indicative of hybrid transformation, as everyone seemed to be perfectly healthy despite the noticeable bodily changes and were obviously present for work. 

“Everyone is a hybrid nowadays. New occurrences are rarely news stories anymore,” Geoff reasoned. “I’ve seen some pretty weird stuff since the first case; this swap thing isn’t nearly as bad as your making it out to be. Have you seen the newest axolotl hybrid found?”

As Geoff continued to ramble his persuasion, Ryan gave further thought to the hybrid pandemic. The hybrid infection did seem to be well received and most people had become fully adjusted to their new half-human, half-animal lives. If anything, the Achievement Hunter fans raved over their favorite YouTube celebrities’ hybrid transformation. 

“Wait a minute!” Everyone turned to Michael. “You just want to show off that you’re the new lion in the office!”

Geoff momentarily spared a withering glare at Michael for finding him out so quickly, before flapping his hands weakly, “Maybe. But we can’t skip a video if we’re all technically, physically able to make one. Today is this week’s VS.”

“Shit.” Michael blurted out. Simultaneously, Ryan’s heart sank woefully low. The VS, Michael versus Ryan. It was unavoidable to film the live action introduction.

“You have something prepared, don’t you?” Geoff prompts the challenger.

“Yeah, and it’s a good one too,” Michael sighs in defeat.

As much as Ryan would like to protest, his sense of productivity wins. The new bird hybrid silently accepts his fate, mentally bracing himself for the rest of the day as he goes in search for the trophy and belts. 

“What about Gavin?”

Everyone paused their set-up activities with Ray swiveling in his chair to face Geoff expectantly for an answer. 

With a casual shrug, the Geoff replied, “Bah, knowing Gavin, it will take him the whole morning just to wrap his head around the whole ordeal. We’ll probably see him later in the day.”

Satisfied with the answer, Ray turns back to face his screens right as a particular red husky peeks into the room. 

“I was right, Michael! You guys have different hybrids.” Lindsay’s cheerful voice filled the temporary morning quiet. Stood happily in the middle of the room, her tail wagged happily behind her as she bounded into Gavin’s chair and rolled it closer to her husband, drinking up Michael’s grumbles of denial. 

A chorus of “Good morning, Lindsay” rang out from the other Hunters as they resumed their duties. Cheerfully, Lindsay moseyed over to Ray, tapping an index finger upon the tip of a budding bull horn playfully.

“Hey!” Ray jumps slightly in his chair at the odd sensation through his skull.

Lindsay simply hums happily, a bright smile dispelling any protest from her friend. “You and Michael are so alike!”

“Hah, yeah. Team Better Friends: Barnyard Version,” Ray jokes, receiving a slight chuckle as the editor wandered toward the Gents’ side. 

Michael glares threateningly at his unwise cow-hybrid friend. “Don’t encourage her,” he mumbles, of which he receives a playful air-kiss in reply (Lindsay’s hearing was much better than he gave credit to) and a meager shrug from Ray. 

A smart lady, Lindsay thumped her tail heavily on the backs of her legs to garner the attention of the new rabbit and lion hybrid as she stood behind their chairs. 

Jack, ever the courteous Gent, immediately drops what he’s doing to devote his full attention to the husky hybrid. “What’s up, Lindsay?”

“Just checking out everyone’s new hybrid!” Lindsay’s cheerful disposition immediately infecting the other man. “Looks like you’re the new cottontail in the office!”

“Seems like it. You’re still a husky?” It was quite hard to miss the dog tail, spinning like a windmill behind her.

“Yep. Everyone else in Rooster Teeth has their original hybrid still. It’s just you Achievement guys.”

Interrupting their conversation, the gruff noise of a certain someone clearing his throat draws Lindsay’s attention. “And Geoff! My new feline friend! You’re looking mighty majestic today.”

Whiskers twitching and tail swaying in complete pride, Geoff only purred in content. “Why thank you, Lindsay.” 

Jack moaned in defeat as the lion hybrid’s ego grew further as Lindsay fed the hungry feline more and more flattery. Seeing that enough damage was done, Lindsay scurried to the other half of Team Same Desk, leaving Jack with an overly inflated Geoff to deal with. 

“Good morning, Ryan!”

Despite his best efforts, Ryan couldn’t hide his slight jump from the very astute canine hybrid. Her smile softened seeing how ruffled the Gent clearly was. “How are you doing?”

“Fine. Fine, just fine,” he rambled.

“So, are you the replacement Gavin? The new bird in the office?” Lindsay tried to joke lightly. It had the desired effect.

“God no! I’m still the same old Ryan. I’m staying right here, on the ground. No flying or squawking for me.”

Noticing Geoff leave the room, most likely to recruit Kdin as the cameraman for the day, Lindsay offered, “Would you like me to fix your wings?”

Ryan observed the canine hybrid warily, unsure of what she meant. Lindsay simply pointed to a particularly bad patch of feathers, “It will feel better if they are arranged properly.”

As she began to reach one hand towards the tangled mess, Ryan shifted the wing away from her. “I’m not sure.”

“It’ll be fine. I promise. Consider me your makeup department,” she replies insistently before disappearing behind him and out of view. The next thing Ryan knew, an odd sensation ran up his spine. He instantly jumped at the new feeling, only to feel a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Sorry,” Lindsay’s voice drifted from behind him. “I know this must feel odd to you. Don’t worry though, I help Gavin all the time with this.”

Ryan could only nod and sit ramrod still in his seat as he felt every shift of each feather… 

“And done!”

Ryan immediately bolted up, causing the husky hybrid to stumble a few steps back as the Gent’s wings rustled and expanded, letting the feathers fully settle. 

“Ahhh,” Ryan sighed, finally feeling the full effects of the grooming, a pleasant ease settling around his shoulder blades. “Thank you, Lindsay. This feels so much better!”

Lindsay simply grinned and nodded, assessing her work proudly before stepping to the side to see Geoff haul in his mobile microphone with Kdin in tow behind him. 

As the squirrel hybrid fully shut the door, barely sparing a glance at the hybrid-swapped crew, Geoff declared, “All right, boys! Let’s get to work!”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

“YIKES!”

After the seventh “yikes” in the competition, the spectators had become immune to the feather tornado that always followed. Leaning forward in his chair, Ray was parked right next to Michael, his attention jumping between the ram hybrid and bird hybrid. Michael wore a determined look as he aimed homing missiles at the weaving bike.

“Come ‘ere, Ryan!”

“No!” The small pile of feathers gathered at the Gent’s chair were blown away as Ryan bodily flailed, wings snapping in the air, to avoid the imminent beeping coming from behind his character.

It was undoubtedly an intense round, Ryan’s character narrowly dodging missiles as neighboring cars burst into flame. Michael’s shouts and yelling morphed into bleating laughter jumping in his chair at every impact. With its usual cinematic graphics, the crew watched excitedly as Ryan desperately aimed for Michael’s character through the windows of the chopper, wings taught in concentration.

Between roars of laughter, Geoff tried his best to commentate for the video. “Michael’s puddin’ got popped!” he declared as Michael’s character burned from the exploded helicopter.

Hovering between the two spectators, Jack gleefully watched the odd antics of his co-workers with Lindsay switching between rooting for her husband and occasionally playing traitor and cheering for her old desk-mate. 

Filming all the live action, Kdin made sure to hover around the new bird-hybrid while skillfully dodging rampant wings. (The impish squirrel-hybrid had completely noticed the office switch and was fully exploiting the new entertainment resulting from the exciting changes.) While sidestepping Ryan’s uncontrollable floundering, the cameraman wore a devious smile through the whole video. This was definitely going to be a hit.

At first, Ryan wasn’t particularly keen on commencing with the video, but Lindsay’s grooming before the filming had greatly relieved the tension he felt that morning. With belts and trophy in hand, the VS introduction had went as smoothly as any other. Geoff was especially charismatic for the camera today, flashing his fangs every now and again and stroking a whisker or two as his lion’s tail swished contently behind him.

Ryan couldn’t deny it, Michael had chosen the perfect game to make his opponent completely forget about his feathery predicament. Immediately the game had an interesting beginning, with clowns bursting from the chopper given to Ryan’s GTA character. A smile already decorating the Gent’s face at the sheer ridiculous of the game design, Ryan clicked the button to have his avatar drag a clown from the vehicle before beginning his pursuit for the “puddin’ pops.”

The first round had easily gone to the aerial chopper, Michael providing a good chase but no match for the Ryan’s piloting skills. The real fun began second round when the two switched roles. For some reason, Ryan decided to yell “yikes” at every close-call, unintentionally followed by his wings spastically flapping in the air. Kdin with his squirrely reflexes had luckily dodged the first hit and was glued to Ryan’s side from then on. Not only were the outbursts entertaining to begin with, but the bodily reaction accompanying the shouts of panic were equally joyous to watch.

After being successfully targeted by Ryan’s combat MG and a couple self-inflicted crashes –the power line poles in the mountains are fucking hard to see at night- Michael finally flew away with the puddin’ pops safely in the helicopter.  
A third round was in order after Michael’s win in order to decide the tie, not that anyone in the room was complaining. With Ryan taking to the air and Michael speeding off on the ground, the tie breaker started with Ryan immediately exploding upon collision with a thin tower. 

Despite his new avian hybrid, Ryan was hard pressed to follow Michael by helicopter. The young ram had learned from his first round and dodged deftly between cars with Ryan shouting battle cries from behind. In addition to learned motorcycle skills, Michael had also picked up on Ryan’s “yikes” the exclamation slipping out without previous thought. Ryan’s feathers ruffled as the two characters had a shootout next to the chopper, slight flapping motions following as Ryan’s character took off into the air in pursuit of the escaping motorcyclist. It was as if Ryan thought by flapping, his GTA character would chase the grounded chopper faster.

With Michael about to steal the victory, a stray homing rocket blasts his character. The next minute was filled with shouts and yelling as Michael desperately mashed buttons to return to the scene and take down Ryan. The bird hybrid has successfully collected the dropped puddin’ pops and was hastily powering up the helicopter once more for takeoff. Fervent, Ryan began pumping his physical wings in hopes of escaping, puffs of air ruffling those standing near and causing loose paper to flutter restlessly, adding to the chaos.

As Ryan’s character successfully vacated the area, Michael cried, “God dammit, Ryan. You piece of shit.” Despite the loss and frustration of having the win snatched from him, Michael’s tone was fond and light. It was indisputably a good match.  
With a tiny finishing flair, Ryan won the game, a very content smile stuck on his face. Bending to throw the belts on his shoulder, a surprising sense of accomplishment accompanied Ryan as the office casually congratulated the Gent on a good game, the hype of the match having everyone is high spirits. 

“Congrats, Ryan. You’ve defended your title. Next week… Oh shit, next week is episode 104. That’ll be the reset,” Geoff pauses at the revelation. 

“Switch up!” Jack declares!

“That’s not the only thing that’s switching,” Michael says offhandedly as he pauses the session and swivels in his chair.

“Haha, yeah,” Geoff recalled suddenly. In fact, the whole crew had mostly forgotten about their new appearances due to the immersion of the VS. That smirk Ryan had seen when the mustached man walked into the office reappeared, but Geoff jokingly played it off as a casual happenstance, “Uh, yeah. We’ve got a new lion, bird, rabbit, ram and bull in the office, but we’re still the same assholes you guys insist on watching.”

Staring predatorily into the camera held by Kdin, Geoff concludes with a mighty, “Versus!”

With that, Kdin stops the recording, smiling at his co-workers. “Good video, guys! I’ll get started on putting it together.”

The squirrel hybrid opened the office door only for an orange blur to come dashing in front of his feet. “Joe?!”

Although the orange feline was a familiar face among the company, the cat rarely entered the Achievement Hunter office. The reason for his appearance soon became apparent as a clearly British voice could be heard from the door. “Joe! Come back!”

Scampering in, Gavin chased Rooster Teeth’s friendly feline around the office, ignoring the bemused looks of his fellow Hunters. Luckily for Gavin, Joe was a rather relaxed cat, simply meowing in protest once the pesky hybrid caught him. “TALK TO ME, JOE!”

Geoff and Michael lost it from there, the burst of their laughter filling the room. Ryan noticed the presence of a fellow bird hybrid at the room threshold; Meg looked down at where Gavin was sat on the floor, trying to get Joe to face him. 

“Gavin,” she said between giggles, “It’s not going to work!” Looking at Geoff, she explained, “He tried talking to Smee this morning. That’s partially why we’re late; chased our poor kitty around the house.”

“Wouldn’t doubt it,” Geoff gasped, a grin firmly plastered on his face. “We have a new cat in the house! Welcome to work, asshole!”

Last piece of the puzzle placed, Gavin had also fallen victim to the Achievement Hunter Switch. Ryan noted the twitching brown tail and pointed ears, and he could have sworn Gavin had grown some extra whiskers, not just the beard kind. At first, the hair on his new feline parts bristled at his boss’ tone, but a grin split across his face when he looked at his coworkers. “Look at us, lads!”

“Yeah, you’re late to the party,” Michael replied, calming for his initial excitement at seeing his best friend as his old hybrid. Gavin looked more pleased with his change than Geoff, fully comfortable with his new feline hybrid.

Bouncing to his feet, the cat hybrid gushed over everyone’s new look. “Geoff! You’re a lion hybrid now! And my boi! Are you sporting goat horns? Jack! You’re a rabbit? And X-Ray! Bull horns?”

The other men simply nodded in agreement to their resident Brit’s discoveries, allowing the change to sink in. When Gavin looked at Ryan, his jaw immediately dropped.

Feeling particularly sheepish with the VS belts still strapped across his shoulders, Ryan shuffled to hide his wings behind him. For some reason, he dreaded the judgement of the ex-bird hybrid. 

Gavin quickly approached the tense hybrid, curiosity glinting in his eyes. “Ryan…are those…wings?!” The younger man’s eyes widened excitedly as he bounded around the Gent, trying to get a good look at them. “Rye! They’re bigger than mine!”  
Ryan felt prying fingers on his feathers, causing him to backpedal into the lip of his desk. 

“This is amazing!” Gavin exclaimed, unheeding of the Gent’s qualms. “They look so cool! You got to show me the wingspan! Outside, show me outside! Better yet, can you fly? Have you tried? I can teach you!”

“Woah, slow down there, buddy!” Geoff placed a heavy hand on Gavin’s shoulder in order to calm the other man. Ryan, however, felt relief chase out the tension. He was surprised by much his peace of mind depended on Gavin’s reaction, but he felt a great deal better after Gavin’s positive feedback. Although he hadn’t fully accepted the change, Ryan did briefly consider a flying lesson from Gavin if the change remained. Gavin just wouldn’t stop grinning at Ryan, a small hint of pride mixed with his wide smile.

“All right, now the gang’s all here.” Geoff declared, looking proudly at the weird menagerie his employees had turned into.

“Like we weren’t weird enough,” Ray mumbles. Ryan could only nod silently in agreement.

“Bah, we’ll get through.” Geoff assures flippantly. “We’ve gone through weirder shit than this. Now get back to work! We’re not on vacation here; we’re here to plays games!”

After his little pep speech, Geoff returned to his chair with Jack settling in his own. Ray took his seat next to Michael as the ram-hybrid began closing down GTA. Gavin took a moment to spare Ryan one last bright grin before shuffling over to his desk, preparing for a shortened work day. Ryan removed the belts before sitting back at his desk, shifting forward in his chair in consideration of his wings. All these minute adjustments were already becoming the norm, but he still felt rather uneasy. He’d have to trust Geoff to handle the company and the public, which just left him to cope with the switch alongside his fellow Achievement Hunters. For the time being, he was Ryan the Bird Guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just really liked the idea of Ryan getting all flustered as a bird-hybrid and flapping his wings every time he yelled "Yikes!" in the versus. I have a couple more chapters written up, but there is no set release schedule. Hope you enjoyed!


	2. Panic Attacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a stressful day for Jack and things only escalate as he works in the AH Office. One of Geoff's roars has Jack set on edge and only the ex-rabbit knows how to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based off of padalickingood’s RoosterTeeth Hybrid AU/Hybrid Switch AU. Beta’d by my lovely goneallgammy/lostinthehaywoods.
> 
> Addresses panic attacks.

Jack sat in the AH office, finishing off the Minecraft Let’s Play for the week. Everyone began their check of the recording, reassuring the hour long game had been fully captured.

It had been a full week since the hybrid switch and the crew wasn’t sure when or if they would return to their original animals. Luckily, everyone had adjusted to their new animal counterpart and after the VS featuring bird-Ryan and ram-Michael was released, the audience ate up the switch. Trends on the site, Twitter and Tumblr had referred to it as the “AH Crew Switch 2k15” jam-packed with fan art and fanfiction following with theories of what happened. Fortunately for the company, only the local Austin news had really picked up on their resident Youtuber’s animal swap. 

Despite the positive direction the event was being handled, Jack couldn’t help but feel on edge. Caiti was out of town doing a modelling shoot, but her flight back that day had been delayed due to a nasty tropical storm system passing through. Jack desperately wished to be with her as she searched for a hotel to wait it out. The whole afternoon Jack had been checking his phone for responses from his wife, making sure she updated him through the whole process.

Finally, the work day finished, Jack’s fingers itched for his phone. He planned to call the airlines to book another flight back, worried that the late hour caused him to lose out on the earliest flights. Right as he was about to power down his Xbox and computer for the day, Geoff strolled up behind the Gent. 

“Ah, nothing like a tower win to end the day,” Geoff gloated, reaching much too close to the bearded man’s face to snatch the tiny figurine from the desk.

“Geoff, congrats and all, but not now.” Jack hurried, trying urgently to get the tattooed arm away from his space.

The lion-hybrid retracted his arm, shooting a confused look at his co-worker. Shrugging the irritability off, he turns to the Lads. “I was thinking of doing a live-action shot for this.”

“What? What for, Geoff?” Gavin quickly questions, but pulls out his iPhone regardless. Michael, too, seemed more than ready to finish the afternoon with a quick live-action scene. Ryan and Ray were more indifferent, both removing their headphones and swiveling their chairs to face the middle in waiting for a decision.

Geoff merely shrugs, a proud grin decorating his bearded face. “Why not? Feel like it.”

A good enough reason for the crew, everyone stood and gathered in the middle of the room to facilitate the filming. Only the rabbit-hybrid of the group lingered, hand grabbing his phone first. He didn’t need this. At this rate, he’ll be lucky to get his wife home before evening next day. Austin traffic must be atrocious by now. He’ll just make the call here at the office. There was no way he could sit still in his car. 

Thoughts running rampant, Jack abruptly stood, fiddling with his phone in his hands. Only half his attention was on Geoff’s victory speech as the camera rolled. Had Caiti found a hotel yet? He should check the weather channel to see how soon the storm will hit. Fuck, he shouldn’t have powered down the computer; it would have been faster to check it online. He really just wanted to see the radar. How big was the storm and how much yellow was there? Red? The whole time, Jack’s hands never stopped moving, foot tapping impatiently on the ground and rabbit ears twitching rapidly in the air. Only one person in the room seemed to notice the Gent’s constant fidgeting. 

“TOWER OF PIMPS, BABY!” The enormous roar that followed immediately snapped Jack from his stormy thoughts. A shout of alarm nearly escaped him as his eyes darted rapidly around the room.

Most of the occupants still stood cringing from the sudden auditory explosion. Some feathers were lost as Ryan’s wings settled from his initial panic flap. 

Assuming that to be a good end to the video, Gavin cut the recording, chuckling at his boss. “That’s the whole reason you wanted to do that, wasn’t it? You love roaring, you big house cat.”

Geoff could only give a cat-ate-the-canary grin in response, particularly toothy. 

Ryan, the voice of reason, retorted, “Geoff, some of us are getting used to being prey species. Maybe a warning next time.” To which Ray nodded solemnly and Gavin and Michael nodding a little more hesitantly, referring to their past experiences.

“That’s why Jack only did it twice in the time he was a lion-hybrid,” Ryan continued, turning to his friend for affirmative. “Right, Jack?”

Jack, still stunned, only nodded dumbly, the only sensation claiming his attention was the rapid, strong beat of his heart. His affirmation remained mostly ignored, though, as Geoff grumbled, “Fine, I will. Just don’t know how long this will last. Wanna enjoy it while I can still can. Bleating doesn’t even compare to this.”

Everything became white noise to Jack as the crew disbanded, readying to head home. Unthinkingly, Jack returned to his seat, facing the black screen of his monitor. What was he sitting there for again? His mind just couldn’t focus. His heart felt like it was beating through his ribcage but there was some pressure sitting on his chest. Honestly, he felt a bit ill. 

Numbly, his hands shakily placed his phone back on the table before reaching for his computer mouse and clicking randomly on a blank screen, knee thumping the underside of the desk as his leg bounced nervously.

“Jack?”

He nearly jumped at the soft voice behind him. Snapping his head around, Jack spotted Ray slowly backpedaling from the Gent’s sudden movements. 

“Everyone’s already left.” Ray continued, voice quiet in the empty room. His hands were strangely raised, visible for Jack to see. The younger man slowly approached. “Are you okay?”

Taking an assessment of himself, Jack noted the alarmingly quick rate of his heartbeat and hasty noise of his breathing, sharp intakes followed by shaky exhales.

Ray moved to take Geoff’s chair from his desk, wheeling it over to face the rabbit-hybrid, his moves slow and deliberate. “It’s okay, man. Just take deep breaths.”

It took far more effort than Jack thought initially to follow the bull-hybrids command.

“In…out…in…out….”

Following the pattern of Ray’s words, Jack felt his lungs relax and heart slow. Ray, however, noticed the tension still lingering in the older man’s shoulders and face.

“Better?”

Not capable of forming coherent words, Jack only nodded. Satisfied, Ray explained, “I think you were going through a panic attack.”

This immediately grabbed Jack’s attention. A panic attack? He’s never had those before! “What? That’s insane! I just-I just need to take care of Caiti. She’s stuck out of town and needs to find a hotel and flight back tonight. I need-I need to help her. But then Geoff wanted to do that ending, and the traffic is bad and my computer is off and-“

“Jack.” Ray interrupts. Once he sees that Jack’s attention refocuses on him, the bull-hybrid continues, “I get it. Sounds like a stressful day. But you need to stay calm. I don’t need you hyperventilating on me.”

Hearing that unfamiliar term directed at him, Jack notes that his breathing had picked up again. Giving conscious effort, he eventually returned to a more normal breathing rate. Giving the rabbit-hybrid the time he needed, Ray resumes, “Good. Now, I’m not too good at this, but I promise that everything will be okay.”

Jack only looked disbelievingly at the bull-hybrid, but Ray continued regardless.

“Caiti’s a capable woman. She’ll be able to find a hotel no problem. It might take her some time, but she’ll be safe for the night. Ryan talked to Geoff. He’s promised not to roar anymore in the office, or at least not as loud and not without warning. As for flights, if anything, Caiti can probably fly into DFW and you can go drive up to Dallas to pick her up tomorrow. Just tell Geoff; I imagine he’ll understand. Hell, I’ll shoot Geoff a text to let him know.”

Through Ray’s whole dialogue, Jack only nodded, letting the calming words fully sink in. The reassurances bled the tension out of the man, making him feel relieved, but beyond tired.

“How do you know all this?” Jack questions.

Surprised to hear a response from the rabbit-hybrid, Ray paused for a minute to figure out an appropriate response, “I mean, these are mostly assumptions, but in the end, everything will be all right.”

“No, I mean, how do you know how to handle this? How to help me?”

“Oh,” Ray looked slightly sheepish now, “Uh, actually kind of feel pretty silly doing this, but when I was a rabbit, I would have panic attacks occasionally.”

Jack’s soft heart immediately ached and his face dropped in disappointment, immediately thinking of the time that he, as a lion-hybrid, had accidentally scared the younger rabbit-hybrid.

Noticing the shift, Ray quickly amended, “I’m not talking about just the office. There were other instances. Tina helped me cope with them, taught me techniques to calm down.”

Only slightly assuaged, Jack nodded, letting Ray continue. “I just-I noticed you seemed agitated when we ended the Let’s Play, and when Geoff roared, I assumed what would happen. I guess with the hybrid switch, the animal instincts were also attached. I assumed this is your first time dealing with a panic attack?”

A nod.

“Okay, well. Some words of wisdom, I guess. Uh, counting backwards from, like, fifty, can often help with the hyperventilation. Once there, you just got to-this sounds dumb-but you got to fight the negative, panicky thoughts. Sometimes the rabbit instincts are really annoying and can mess with your head, so you just got to use your better judgement to assess the situation. If that doesn’t work, just leave the situation and go somewhere quieter. Tina gave me a really dumb suggestion: go to you ‘happy place.’ I don’t know, that really didn’t work with me, but if you ever need some coaching through another panic attack you can, uh, text or call me or something.” 

Jack struggled to make a mental note of all the advice Ray was passing onto him, and the lad noticed he was losing him. Grinning abashedly, Ray stopped. “Well, at least it seems this one is over. How do you feel?”

Again, giving himself a self-assessment, Jack noted he had returned to his equilibrium. “Actually, much better.”

“Good! My work is done here!” Ray smiled, standing from where he was sat across from Jack. “If you want, I can email you some links and stuff to websites, or have Tina call you.”

Unbelievably appreciative of the support shown by his co-worker, Jack only nodded to everything, “That would be wonderful.”

“Thank you, Ray.” He grinned at Ray, trying to convey as much genuine appreciation into his smile. The talk had turned out to be much longer than both of them expected, the office now mostly emptied. 

Ray just grinned back, glad his coaching had been effective. “Don’t mention it.”

Just as Ray turned to finish gathering his things from his desk, Jack’s phone buzzed. Glancing at the screen, Jack saw that it was a text from Caiti:

“Got a room! Even better, the reception desk helped me book the airline ticket for tomorrow morning. Miss you lots! <3”

Relief swept over Jack as his phone pinged lightly. This time a Twitter notification. Sliding his phone open, the app immediately opened to the new tweet:

“Woot! Room service to wait out the storm. Miss and love the @Jack_P lots!”

Attached to the tweet was a picture of Caiti’s gorgeous, smiling face, a silver tin visible in the background of what appeared to be a simple Holiday Inn room. Jack’s face immediately lit up, reflecting a radiant grin on his face.

He looked to Ray, seeing the other man look briefly over his direction before leaving. Jack quickly flipped his phone over to show Ray the tweet, “She found a room.”

Satisfied with the short explanation and more pleased to see Jack grinning, tension vanished, Ray returned the smile. “Good to hear. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

With that, the young bull-hybrid stepped out of the AH office threshold, leaving Jack alone. Still grinning, Jack silently thanked Ray once more before shooting a return text to Caiti.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To anyone who has panic attacks. I offer my sympathies; I wish people never had them. I have minor ones myself for test taking and I know how unpleasant they are. I sincerely hope those who read this have no or few panic attacks in the future.


	3. Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Achievement Hunters receive a last minute invitation from Geoff to celebrate in a spooktacular way! Along with a wild costume challenge, Geoff also has a small surprise in store for a their newest member.
> 
> NOTE: This chapter skips forward and mentions present day events and conditions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, a Halloween chapter for Wild World! Big thank to lostinthehaywoods/TeasingIt for beta'ing!

_Dear Achievement Hunters,_

_Young and old. Past, present and future. You’re beloved boss has a request. In light of the success of the premier of RWBY Vol. 3 and Gavin’s promotion, I demand we have a company-wide celebration this Friday after the workday is over._

_Guess the theme? Halloween! My challenge to you, Achievement Hunters, dress as your original hybrids._

_\- Geoff_

_____________________________________________________________________________

At 8:00 pm in the Stage 5 kitchen area, an array of beverages, snacks and tricks-or-treats sat on the counter alongside Halloween-themed plastic cups, plates and utensils. Leaning lazily back in one of the chairs, Geoff may or may not have already indulged in one of the more alcoholic drinks left open in the kitchen. The lion-hybrid was a little restless, not one for organizing celebrations but feeling inclined to do something big for his psuedo-son, Gavin.

It wasn’t until twenty minutes later that Gavin and Meg joined Geoff. The two had dressed as a couple; Meg strapping a pair of white costume wings to Gavin’s back and she donning a pair of black cat ears to go with her Black Cat cosplay. Together, the two looked like a pair of winged cats, a ridiculous notion but Meg definitely pulled it off. Maybe not so much Gavin, whose wire-structured wings were askew and much smaller than the natural hybrid wings he once had. 

Gavin’s cat ears were perked forward and tail swishing in a pleased manner as he approached Geoff. Despite his new cat-hybrid form, Gavin still managed to make these unearthly bird squawks, chirping slightly when he saw Geoff’s costume, “Geoff! What kind of costume is that?!”

Geoff had stood up to greet the two, allowing Gavin to examine his costume in full, which wasn’t much. “Geoff! You said you’d go all out with this costume.”

“I did!” Geoff argued obstinately. His “costume” consisted of his normal workday clothes for the most part. The only thing that vaguely followed the costume theme was his t-shirt: a white short sleeved shirt with a demonic looking silhouette of a goat’s head painted on it. Below read the words “RAM ME” and on the back it vulgarly said “Ask to see my rack.”

Gavin was torn between disgusted and amused as he fully took in Geoff’s shirt. “Geoff, you’re ridiculous.”

Geoff held up a hand, pulling out his phone with the other and swiping it open. A few screen-taps later and he flipped the phone over to show a picture stored on his phone. In the picture was a wooden table with two curved, ridged carvings spray painted a shimmery black with ornate decorations detailed on the flat surfaces. “Griffon actually carved some damn nice looking horns, but they were too heavy. Thus, she insisted I add something to back of the shirt. She also made painted the goat head.” 

“Nothing’s better than a costume you have to explain?” Gavin grinned. It was a shame Geoff didn’t bring them with him; Gavin would have really enjoyed a closer look at the wood artist’s work. 

“What about you, Gavvers? Is there more to yours?”

“Nah.”

Geoff looked pointedly at Gavin. There was no way the cat-hybrid could scold him if he wasn’t dressed up more himself. It wasn’t fair. Gavin’s excuse was just “I’m your boss now.” And Geoff couldn’t argue against that…

The lion-hybrid just shook his head tiredly, grinning as more and more employees started filtering in. Most of the costumes simply consisted of “it’s pajama day” outfits and several of the live action crew wore previous outfits from other shows. Miles came strutting in wearing the torn Ruby cosplay while laughing hysterically at Meg’s shriek from the monster hand candy bowl. 

Geoff and Gavin were absently talking about Halloween plans, sipping at bevs when they were interrupted with an appalled “I thought we were going all out!”

Both turned to see a very disgruntled Ryan stood in front of them before bursting into laughter. Not unexpected from the man who appeared in a skin tight body suit and naked on the Internet, Ryan fucking Haywood was in full cow attire. Correction, full Edgar the Cow attire. Besides the longhorn headband to recreate the his former bull horns and cow tail lying on top of his tail feathers, Ryan also wore a red king’s cape (trying his best to hide his massive wings) and that iconic broken crown in plastic toy form to go along with his Minecraft outfit.

“Oh my god! Fucking Ryan,” Geoff wheezed, tears gathering at the corner of his eyes. “Why am I not surprised?”

Ryan looked very nonplussed at the two idiots laughing in front of him though, crossing his arms grumpily and ruffling his feathers underneath the cape. He tried his best to hold up his grouchy visage, but after examining Gavin’s lopsided wings and reading Geoff’s shirt, the other man cracked a smile himself. “Whatever, assholes. I’m grabbing a Diet Coke.”

Despite being a last minute event, the turnout was surprisingly large. A lot of Roosterteeth employees mingled and snacked on the Halloween treats, creating a buzzing atmosphere. Someone went to dig up a small sound system and started playing some spooky playlist to further set the mood. A couple of the offices were opened up in favor of starting up some friendly gaming and a projector was moved to the common room in front of the kitchen to play some Halloween movies. Matt and Jeremy had arrived in Bungie gear with those ridiculous cardboard heads bobbing around. Ryan had eventually rejoined with Geoff and Gavin, Diet Coke in hand, and sparing another congratulations to the new Creative Director before wandering off and occasionally stopping to take photos with amused coworkers. Gavin and Geoff continued talking privately with themselves while others drifted in and out of their conversations, a drink always in hand and maybe a handful or two of candy corn.

Jack came roaring in with what looked to be a handmade costume. The rabbit-hybrid’s ears were underneath a lion hoodie with button eyes and a felt mane. Sewn to the back of the hoodie was a rope tail with a yarn tuft and possibly crocheted mittens with matching tufts. It was a very kid-friendly costume and Jack looked like a stuffed animal, but when he talked so fondly of how his wife made it, everyone was fawning over the homemade outfit. Caiti had already been leisurely working on the mittens for winter, but with a week’s notice for the Halloween celebration, she rushed to make a full outfit, cooing over her big, strong lion. 

It was interesting seeing the ex-lion next to Geoff, a strange similarity to Simba of Lion King and Uncle Scar. Geoff simply scowled when it was brought to his attention, but Jack grabbed the smaller man in a quick bear hug. The two had a very successful year together and the party provided the opportunity for Team OG to reflect on the good fortune. 

As another hour passed, various employees floated in and out. Burnie and Ashley stayed for a bit with a visit from Gus to scowl half-heartedly by the beverages. Everyone managed to make the time to pass Gavin and further congratulate the man. It warmed Geoff’s heart to see the boy he knew for twelve some years glow at the commendations. It was surreal to think that technically Gavin was his superior, but he’d still be that British lad that worked with him for over a decade. 

Michael and Lindsay arrived a bit later, batgirl Lindsay cooing over her “neko-Michael” who donned her Pusheen hoodie. Unfortunately, his budding ram horns still stuck out, clearly evident even when under the hood. She wanted to add face paint, but he drew the line there. Gavin sniggered drunkenly when he first spotted his boi, earning him a withering glare. It had the opposite effect, causing Gavin to crack up even further, “You’re a Grumpy Cat, Micoo!”

“Can it, you idiot,” Michael replied fondly. At that point of the night, Geoff and Jack had grabbed a table. Gavin had wandered off to join Meg for a time, but eventually wound up at the same table. Ryan too drifted over to the unofficial Achievement Hunter table after the arrival of Michael.

The guys all took a moment to take in each other’s costumes, a grin splitting over everyone’s faces. “Not quite the same, but it will do.” From there, they began making jibes at each other as the bevs were passed easily around the table (Ryan holding tightly to his beloved Diet Coke). 

“To Gavin!”

“This company is doomed!”

“Oi! What?!”

Jeremy stumbled over to the table of his coworkers, already slightly tipsy but in a purely jovial spirit. “Oh shit! I didn’t get the memo!” he declared dramatically as he eventually connected everyone’s costume.  
The chinchilla-hybrid looked slightly defeated, but Geoff reassured, “Bah! Don’t worry about it Lil’ J! There’s something else we need you here for.”  
Without further elaboration, Geoff took another swig of his Halloween concoction and Jeremy was left just to puzzle out what his words out. Brain too fuzzy to think, the chinchilla hybrid was easily pulled away to the go play some Guitar Hero.

The others at the table exchanged equally confused looks before staring down Geoff for answers. Whatever this man was planning, he was the only one privy to it. Suddenly a certain disquiet spread over the party as a familiar figure stood at the entrance. The new arrival made a beeline for the Achievement Hunter table, politely waving off anyone who approached him.  
“Nice costume, Geoff.”

Geoff just grinned up at the cow-hybrid in front of him. “Glad you could make it, Ray.”

Donned in a plain suit (which could arguably pass as his old Minecraft Tuxedo Mask skin), Ray wore a rabbit ear headband in place of a top hat. Tina wanted to make him a Playboy Bunny, but Ray managed to make her compromise with just wearing a dress suit.

“X-RAY!” Gavin exclaimed, immediately jumping up to embrace his friend in a tight hug. 

Ray returned the hug a bit awkwardly, “Wanted to say congrats to you in person, Vav.”

Gavin beamed, “Thanks! Just glad to see you!”

“Same,” Ray grinned back.  
Michael stood and spared a quick hug before saying, “It’s been a while man. Surprised to see the infamous Brownman has left his cave and came to a party.”

“Yeah, man. Still scary,” Ray joked easily. 

Ryan smiled from his seat, greeting a little awkwardly, “Hey, Ray. Sorry about that On the Spot thing.”

“Nah man. No way Jon’s silly game show is going to break up the R & R.” Ryan grinned a little easier at that, glad to see his friend again.

Jack couldn’t speak himself, just grabbing the Puerto Rican and another bear hug and muttering, “Glad to see you again Ray.”

“Yeah, same to you Jack.”

Everyone took their seats, with people eyeing the table suspiciously at seeing the original six together again. Their conversation returned to the natural flow they had for three years, a lot of discussion about Ray’s Twitch career, Achievement Hunter’s own streaming experiments, Gavin’s promotion and just general catching up. Eventually, Tina came up to the table, the civet-hybrid donned in full Brownman-fanatic attire, like a football fan but for her boyfriend. She had initially been dragged away by a vampire Jon, but held out a small gift bag to Ray.

Everyone looked curiously at the bag as Ray reluctantly took it. Meanwhile Geoff’s mischievous smile only grew further. 

“No point in procrastinating,” Tina scolded, a slightly sadistic tint in her eyes. Ray only groaned in reply before scooting her chair back.

“Do you know where he is?” Tina nodded eagerly, already shoving Ray in the direction of the various gaming platforms being used at the party. Geoff stood to follow, causing all the other Achievement Hunters to tail along curiously.

Jeremy had joined a group on the floor, intently watching a projection of the “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” movie. Ray hesitantly prodded Jeremy to get his attention. “Can I borrow you for a minute?”

“RAY?!” the chinchilla-hybrid exclaimed, surprised to see the ex-Hunter. Distracted by Jeremy’s shout, everyone watched curiously as the rest of the Achievement Hunters stood behind Ray. Ray urgently shuffled over a quieter area of the room with Jeremy in his wake. Geoff and the rest of the crew were not far behind with a small gathering of inquisitive spectators building in the rear.

With the faces of the AH crew creating a relatively private circle around Ray and Jeremy, Ray thrust the small gift bag at the other man without words.

Confused, Jeremy accepted, “Is this for me?”

“Yeah. As congratulations.”

Jeremy looked curiously into the bag before pulling out the contents. The discarded paper bag and tissue paper floated to the ground as the chinchilla hybrid clutched a heavy black desk name plate. Inscribed on a shining brass plate was the gamer tag “JDoolz.” 

“Geoff helped coordinate this, but it was kind of Tina’s idea. Congrats on getting the desk, Jeremy,” Ray rushed out. Ray owned a similar name plate himself, with the “BrownMan” gamer tag engraved on it, that once sat on his desk at his Achievement Hunter and now acted as a memento at his new apartment. 

Jeremy tried his best to fight the tears that blurred his vision. Face flushed and eyes wide, he just looked in awe at the object in hand. “Th-thank you,” Jeremy struggled to get out, clearing his throat roughly.  
“No problem. Congrats, Jeremy.”

At the point, Geoff let off a loud whoop, breaking the silence that had fallen over the group during the moment. Everyone clapped cheerfully, those in the back confused but just glad to be celebrating something. With the majority of the party goers now involved, everyone vacated the main building and headed for Achievement Hunter’s new building where Jeremy could place the plaque on his desk.

With a group of seventy or so attendees now stumbling across the parking lot with much joyful noise in their wake, only a handful managed to squeeze into the office to watch Jeremy ceremonially place the name plate on his desk. After carefully positioning the item, Jeremy threw his arms in victory and a jubilant shout. Everyone cheered happily, causing a cacophonous ruckus in the sound studio that just encouraged more cheering.

Ray looked to Tina, who simply smiled proudly at her boyfriend before sliding over to her side, watching Jeremy get bombarded and a brilliant grin the shorter man never lost. Geoff looked proudly over at Ray, an approving nod shot his way after a grateful pat on his shoulder. 

“HAPPY HALLOWEEN!” someone shouted. Everyone started shouting in return before disbanding slowly. The party was nearing its end and much had happened. Gavin felt officially initiated as the Creative Director of the company and Jeremy was fawning over the desk plaque. Undoubtedly, everyone was in high spirits that night as the clocks ticked to midnight and the calendar rolled over to October 31st. 

Happy Halloween!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween, everyone! I would absolutely love it if someone drew Geoff's "costume". owo


End file.
